


Tonight’s Lullaby

by green_haired_angel



Category: Zombies Run!
Genre: 5am, Fluff, Other, female!five, spoilers up to season 5
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-02
Updated: 2020-05-02
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:55:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,541
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23960413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/green_haired_angel/pseuds/green_haired_angel
Summary: Five wasn't asleep. And apparently, neither was baby Sara.
Relationships: Paula Cohen/Maxine Myers, Runner Five & Sam Yao, Runner Five/Sam Yao
Comments: 7
Kudos: 41





	Tonight’s Lullaby

Five wasn't asleep. And apparently, neither was baby Sara.

Her tired cries echoed through the mostly empty halls of Noah base. Five stared at the ceiling, like she had been for the past hour. Usually when Five couldn’t sleep, she ran. She ran until she couldn’t think anymore, until the threat of Moonchild reaching through her mind was close to gone, until Five was so exhausted that she had no choice but to slump onto whatever object was nearest and get as much restless sleep as possible.

Of course, she wasn’t being very helpful just laying there. Five rolled onto her side and sat up, feeling a slight headache that had been there since that morning. Wincing, she forced herself off of the bed. Through everything, Five could appreciate the little victories of finally having beds again. And their own rooms. She was incredibly thankful that she didn’t have to share a room with Jody anymore. Five didn’t want anyone to hear her nightmares anymore. Not that she ever did.

Five crept down the hallway on the balls of her feet, her steps echoing quietly along the empty walls. After a short trip down the hall, she stopped at Maxine and Paula’s room. She heard muffled voices. Five slowly opened the door. Her eyes brushed over the outline of Maxine.

Maxine was holding Sara, attempting to shush her and rock her back to sleep. Although Sara’s cries had gotten softer, she was no less persistent about keeping her parents, and everyone in Noah Base, awake. 

“Five,” Maxine whispered, her voice exhausted. “What are you doing up?”

Five moved towards her lightly. “I came to take Sara off your hands. I know you’re really tired, and you’re working hard. You deserve a break.” 

“What about you though?”

A pause. Five looked away for a moment, then back to Maxine. “I couldn’t sleep anyway.”

She saw Maxine nod understandingly through the darkness. Five held out her arms and Maxine passed Sara to her. Sara’s cries grew slightly louder, the sound cutting sharply through the night. Five walked back through the door, hearing the relieved sighs of the two women behind her. 

Five silently walked back to her room, trying not to wake Sam in the room next to hers. She left the door open slightly, then went to the side of her bed. Still standing, Five moved Sara so that her head was resting on her shoulder. Five began to softly bounce her and sway from side to side. Sara was still crying. The sound cracked Five’s heart.

God, she loved Sara so much. Maybe it had something to do with how much she looked like Sam. Or how much Sam loved Sara. Whatever Sam wanted, whatever Sam loved, Five swore to protect unconditionally. It wasn’t even a conscious decision. Even though her life was uncertain and terrifying, Five knew this with everything she had inside of her: she would protect what she loved. 

And she loved Sam Yao.

Sara was still restless. Five was starting to get anxious. She had spent time with Sara before, but she had never had to put her to sleep. Grasping for straws, Five did the only thing she thought might work at this point. 

From Five’s throat came the tune of her favorite song before the apocalypse. Slow and mellow, her gentle humming filled the room with her voice. She hadn’t sung in a long time. At Abel, she would hum sometimes while gardening, and whenever she was on long trips away to set up cams, she would find herself singing once she knew Sam wasn’t listening anymore. 

Five began to sing the words softly. The song wasn’t exactly lullaby material, but it was the first one that came to mind. It seemed to be working, too. Sara had stopped crying. Five figured it was only a few minutes before the baby would fall asleep. 

——————

Sam was half asleep, laying sideways across his bed. Having to plan missions and figure out how to take back Abel was exhausting him more than he liked to admit, but no matter how hard he tried, sleep didn’t come easily. Especially when Sara wouldn’t sleep either. 

He grumbled to himself, hoisting himself off the bed haphazardly. He wiped the sleep from his eyes and began his tired shuffle towards the door. Before he could open it, he heard footsteps outside and the muffled cries of his baby. He knew those steps better than he knew himself. It was Five.

Sam knew how tired Five must have been. She slept less than anyone else staying with them. Five was haunted by nightmares every night. They all were, but especially her. Sam couldn’t imagine what she saw every night, and he didn’t think he wanted to. He just wished he could make things easier for her. He wished he could somehow save her, like she had saved him countless times. He figured a small step would be taking Sara off her hands so she could try to sleep as much as possible.

Sam opened his door and tiptoed toward’s Five’s room. Hopefully he wouldn’t trip on his own feet like he usually did. He got close to the door. He stopped. Was that… singing?

Five was singing.

He had only heard her sing once, and that was at Christmas years ago when she had a burst of confidence and sang a part of a song in front of a few of the other runners. It wasn’t her real voice though. She was singing mockingly about three French hens, two turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree.

This was different.

Her voice was soft and sweet, almost fragile. He strained himself to hear her better. She was so quiet, like she always was. She sang gently. It was so pretty, not only because of her talent, but because it was her. It was Five. He almost wanted to cry. He felt so drawn to her. A piece of him wanted to open the door and sit on her bed and listen for hours. 

Her voice made him want to kiss her.

He felt his heart start to almost hurt, like it always did when Five made him fall just a little bit more in love with her, piece by fragile piece. It happened so much, but still, every time it did, he felt like melting into a puddle of Sam and exploding into a billion bits simultaneously. 

Like that time she moved her hair from her face and looked up at him, still sweaty from her run. Or that time she noticed his shoe was untied, and immediately knelt down and tied it for him. The time she raced him to the commes shack. The time she cried so hard from a nightmare that she threw up, and Sam held her hair and rubbed her back. The times he looked into her eyes and she looked back and he couldn’t breathe. When she pulled him out of the dumpster and he could have sworn that she was an angel sent to save him. The times when she would run past a cam, and give it the biggest grin, just because she knew he was watching. The time Nadia almost killed her and he couldn’t stop shaking with anger and fear. The time she came back from Van Ark’s injections, and he laid with her in the hospital bed until she stopped seeing stars. 

The time when Five had just come to Abel two weeks before, and she got trapped outside of the gates at night after a failed mission. Sam had no clue if she would make it back. He kept the red beacon on just in case. He talked to her the whole time, telling her everything he was too scared to tell anyone else. And then he saw her. She was coming towards Abel faster than a crack of lightning. He rushed to the gates, pushing past anyone in his way to get to her. She didn’t stop running until she saw his face. She ran straight to him, fear and relief in her eyes, almost tackled him with a hug, and collapsed into his chest. Sam wouldn’t let go, and neither would she. If they let go, they would break. That night, he was her voice in the dark. 

And tonight, she was his.

Five slowly stopped singing, and Sam knew she was about to take Sara back to Maxine. He slowly backed up towards his door. He didn’t want Five to know that he had heard. He opened his door and silently closed it. He was warm. 

Love wasn’t just a feeling in his heart, or butterflies in his stomach. Love was his light. It grew and spread like wildfire, it filled him up and when he couldn’t hold it all in, he felt like it spilled outside of him. It glowed, it filled a room, a thousand rooms, a whole world. He didn’t think he could hide it. Love was brighter than every red beacon. Love was his light. 

Sam eased himself into bed and under the blankets. Five’s lullaby was in his head, and soon, the memory of her voice carried him gently to sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> This was my first fic, I hope you liked it!! Please let me know what you think in the comments, I would really love your feedback :)


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